Skylanders: Trap Team

Joining The Trap Team – Hands-On With The New Skylanders

I’ve been playing Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure since the toy-based series debuted in 2011. It’s one of the few franchises that I feel comfortable sharing with my kids, and it’s good enough to the point where I’ll pop it in and play even if they’re out of town. For research, of course. Reiner wrote about the newest entry, Trap Team, extensively not too long ago, but I got to play it myself for the first time today.

The demo took place in a sewer level, filled with suspicious-looking green rivers and conveniently placed rafts. I got to solve a few puzzles, including one where I pulled levers to help guide a ball of energy from several stations to its ice-melting goal. Another was a slightly new take on the series’ familiar lock-picking game, where I flung a poor little ball of goo around a 2D box, drenching the poor soul in water at one point to extinguish flames.

The stars of the game are clearly the biggest draw here, however, and I got to play as several new Trap Team characters. Two of them stuck out in particular.

Wolfgang is an Undead type, and he’s also a villain that can be trapped. If you haven’t been keeping up with Trap Team, the twist this time is that players can choose to trap bosses and some other villains, where they’ll be stored in physical toys based on their element type.

Wolfgang is a werewolf who happens to be really into music. He wields a harp/guitar hybrid made from bone, and he can use it to fire off music-note projectiles. He can also charge into groups of enemies with a rock-appropriate stage slide, where he takes out foes while skidding on his knees. He’s a pretty funny dude; I heard him shout, “Hello, Skyland!” in a nice nod to This is Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel.

The other character I had fun with was what will either be considered the best or worst name in the series. The characters have been known for punny monikers like Tree Rex, Fright Rider, and Wash Buckler, which is why the simply named “Broccoli Guy” cracked me up so much. This tiny little fellow complains about his name while battling enemies. He has a cool trick, though: As a Life-based character, he can create a healing aura. It persists even when players swap between their regular Skylander and their trapped companion, so they can use Broccoli Guy as a secondary way to heal their guys. Simply stand on the healing circle and reap the benefits.